Martin O'Neill has made a solitary new year pledge. "I have only one resolution and that is to try to get into a decent position in the league, if we can," Sunderland's manager said. "To avoid relegation is the most pressing issue for us."

After recording two wins and a draw in the four games since O'Neill succeeded Steve Bruce, Sunderland appear on an upward curve but, although they have risen to 15th in the Premier League, they remain a mere four points above the relegation zone.

"We are still in a dogfight, we really are," said the former Aston Villa and Celtic manager, whose side are at home to Manchester City on Sunday and at Wigan on Tuesday. "My hopes for Sunderland in the new year are just to get out of bother. That's the most pressing issue for us. We're still in a spot of bother."

Such worries about the prospect of Championship football could yet force him to ask his chairman, Ellis Short, for the cash to fund reinforcements during the transfer window.

The need has been exacerbated by the rash of defensive injuries which, having already ruled out Michael Turner for some weeks, now threaten to sideline Titus Bramble and Phil Bardsley for the remainder of the holiday programme. "I have said 7,000 times before that I didn't take the job because I was promised anything in January, that wasn't the case," O'Neill said.

"But we might have to look at some situations here because of the growing injuries we have. If these injuries clear up in a couple of weeks, which I am hoping they will do, that might provide a bit of solace. If they don't, then that might be something we would have to look at."

With a league trip to Chelsea beckoning in mid-January, O'Neill is aware of the need to preserve Sunderland's still fragile morale. "The confidence at the moment is good," he said. "But until you win a substantial number of games, I always feel it can be a bit brittle. What you don't want to do is to destroy it in a couple of games, and we've got some tough ones coming up."

He is hoping his senior former Manchester United defenders Wes Brown and John O'Shea will lead by example but accepts they are still adapting to life after Old Trafford.

"Wes and John have a load of extra responsibility at this club," O'Neill said. "When you're at Manchester United, you are a cog in a wheel and get on with your own game but they've come here and have to take extra responsibility. I think they are happy with that and that's great but it's still something new to them."

O'Neill has encountered a familiar problem in the form of the fixture pile-up that means Sunderland travel to Wigan 48 hours after facing City. "I don't see why the Wigan fixture couldn't have taken place on the Wednesday," he said. "Teams playing games in such quick succession is something the Premier League should look at."